Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Buddhist : Zen / Chan

14th Century

About Muso Soseki

Timeline (1275 - 1351)

Muso Soseki, Muso Soseki poetry, Buddhist, Buddhist poetry, Zen / Chan poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry, poetry

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English version by
W. S. Merwin

Original Language
Japanese

Clear Valley

Themes

Sky

Water

Recommended Books

	East Window: Poems from Asia, Translated by W. S. Merwin
	Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader, Edited by Nelson Foster / Edited by Josh Shoemaker
	Sun at Midnight: Muso Soseki - Poems and Sermons, Translated by W. S. Merwin / Translated by Soiku Shigematsu

The water that can't be muddied
     with any stick
          is deeper than depth
The sky and the water
     are a single
          deepening blue
If you really want to find
     the source of the Sixth Patriarch's
          fountain
don't look for it
     on the one bank or the other
          or in the middle of the stream

-- from Sun at Midnight: Muso Soseki - Poems and Sermons, Translated by W. S. Merwin / Translated by Soiku Shigematsu

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Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

About Muso Soseki

Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World